Shaw argues that journalism should focus on deconstructing the underlying structural and cultural causes of political violence such as poverty, famine and human trafficking, and play a proactive (preventative), rather than reactive (prescriptive) role in humanitarian intervention.

IBRAHIM SEAGA SHAW is Senior Lecturer at the University of Northumbria, UK. With a background in journalism spanning 26 years in Sierra Leone, Britain and France, he edited Sierra Leone's award winning Expo Times newspaper in the mid 1990s. He holds a PhD from the Sorbonne and is co-editor of Expanding Peace Journalism (2011).

'The perceptive analysis presented on these pages highlights the basis for a radical reconsideration of some of our most familiar assumptions. It does so in a manner alert to journalism's shortcomings but also to its remarkable potential to foster points of emphatic connection at a distance. In this way, Shaw's intervention inspires us to reinvigorate our efforts to develop productive ways forward, to re-imagine new possibilities in the search for compassionate reporting respectful of the human dignity of others.' - Stuart Allan, Bournemouth University, UK